According to Evgeniy Ustinov, senior counsellor for Russia’s delegate, the report was prejudiced and covered up Kiev’s crimes.
A UN official told a UN gathering that the employment of drones, long-range missiles, and glide bombs has increased the number of civilian deaths in the conflict in Ukraine by over 12,300 in the previous three years.
In recent months, Russia has often used such missiles to attack distant cities as it expands its territory in eastern Ukraine.
According to UN figures, this led to a 30 percent increase in civilian deaths in Ukraine between September and November 2024, reaching 574, compared to the same period the year before.
Nada Al-Nashif, the deputy human rights chief for the United Nations, stated on Wednesday that over 12,300 civilians, including 650 children, have been murdered in Ukraine. However, the UN has always maintained that their number is an underestimate because it only includes deaths that its teams have been able to confirm.
She stated during a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva that “Russian armed forces intensified their operation to capture further territory in eastern Ukraine, with a severe impact on civilians in frontline areas”.
She went on to state that Russia has deployed 2,000 long-range drones in November and that “we are deeply concerned by the impacts on civilians of the increased use of drones and the use of new weapons”.
Al-Nashif informed the Council that these instances of more flagrant transgressions of international human rights law might be war crimes.
Eveniy Ustinov, senior counsellor for Russia’s delegate, claimed the report was prejudiced and covered up Kiev’s misdeeds. Since the conflict started in February 2022, Moscow has denied carrying out crimes or focusing on civilians in Ukraine.
Russia’s recent activities against Ukraine were characterized as “calculated, cruel, and designed to inflict maximum pain and destruction” by Ukraine’s envoy, Yevheniia Filipenko.
“Limited information available”
The UN recorded 35 civilian deaths that were caused by video-piloted drones in areas of Kherson under Ukrainian control between September and November 2024.
These drones, sometimes referred to as first-person view drones, are equipped with cameras that enable operators to discern between combatants and civilians on their screens.
According to Al-Nashif, who cited Russian reports, several civilians have also been killed in the Kursk area of Russia, where Ukrainian military have steeped up their operation that started in August.
Due to limited access to the nation and the paucity of publicly available data, UN human rights monitors do not keep track of Russian casualties.
According to the regional governor, a Russian aerial bombardment on the industrial city of Zaporizhzhia in central Ukraine claimed 13 lives.
In a social media message, Governor Ivan Fedorov revised an earlier death toll of one person and thirty wounded to read, “Thirteen people were killed in an enemy attack on Zaporizhzhia”.
